Recent Comments

I've been to all four restaurants. I would never go back to Bar Lou. I was hoping for a French Bistro ... evidently not ! What they did to the interior is horrible, IMO as a designer. Clarks doesn't have much on the menu that stands out to me if you are not an oyster fan ... ( their fries are fantastic ! ) I've tried several dishes that are just ok but it's a fun place to have a cup of chowder or a drink . I think RH's interior is stunning but the menu just ok if not a bit boring ( service excellent ). I expect RH to " kick the menu up a notch " as they settle in. Am disappointed that the offshoot of SYK has backed out of the Via Via space. I am really looking forward to the Chef driven ' Little Mountain " restaurant to open ! Chef Joel Viehland will bring some fantastic flavors to Montecito. BTW the best thing I have had between all four restaurants ( Clarks fries not withstanding ) is the Lamb burger at the Lions Tail.

Location of Lion’s Tale, please.

Best oysters in town at Clark’s!

I agree with your reviews, although your reviews of RH and Clark's are more kind than I would have written. RH's menu is boring. The food is bland. Yes, the service was outstanding. They make absolutely no effort with dessert. I guess they didn't want to spend the money on a dessert chef. Clark's service was also great but the food was disappointing. My crab cake was way overcooked, dry and the color of a brown shoe. Local has better food and nice atmosphere, but I too miss the Empty Bowl.

Thank you for an honest review- refreshing and fun to read.

Sam, I'm afraid the leadership we've had in place for far too long is incapable of common sense approaches to inequity. I'm not talking about the poor individuals "just trying to make a living" but instead all the actual tax-paying business owners that endure the un-ending task of compliance with local building permits, zoning ordinances, ADA compliance, health codes, tax codes, employment rules, and market competition. We will continually turn a blind eye to being taken advantage of in the name of "fairness" marketed as DEI accomplishments.

Go Elon Go🚀

My husband and I had our first date here in 1967. We have now been married for 57 years! It is magical.

Thanks! Fixed it.

Seriously! Is this Yelp now??

That kind of sloppiness I can handle, the sloppiness I can't handle are things like our state spending $20B on homelessness, with zero accountability, no audits, and for the homeless population and overall situation to get worse.

Regardless of your stance on the federal employee layoffs, it's shameful and a mark of mediocrity that the CI National Park workers (and countless others) were laid off with a letter that stated "the Department has determined you have failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment." If this is about cutting costs, there's no need to abuse those we're laying off. Just say that their positions are being eliminated. There is also the issue of arrogance, credibility, and a culture of clear thinking. Everyone with a functioning brain cell knows it was a mass layoff and individual workers weren't vetted. Credibility is a currency and it was an unforced error to squander so much when different language could just as easily have been used. It may not be a problem today, but eventually the chickens come home to roost. You have to feel that this level of unnecessary, reckless arrogance will eventually become a problem. And with this wanton disregard for clear thinking and decision-making, those at the very top are setting a poor example for the entire federal government. Though they may disdain bureaucracy, those at the top are now part of it. And undermining all structural respect for the institutions and replacing that with loyalty to individuals is an extremely fragile and unstable proposition likely to ultimately collapse, hurting their own cause as well as others'.